Spin The Bottle
by writergirl2003
Summary: Maybe it would be best to kiss him; maybe, if she closed her eyes, let her imagination wander far enough, she could pretend. She could imagine they were Shelley’s lips instead. AmberShelley. Dedicated to theatrics.


Hi everyone. I know some of you don't like my AmberShelley stories, but I wrote this one especially for theatrics, since her birthday is next Tuesday. I just decided to post it because I know some of you are really fond of the AmberShelley pairing, so I figured I'd share with all of you.

More than anything, though, this story is for Kelsey. Happy (early) birthday. I love you.

* * *

It should have been second nature for Amber to feign indifference. She had, after all, been forced to do it almost consistently since she'd been a little girl. Her mother would put her on the spot, and she could lie her way out of trouble with the best of them, but still, there was a line that she could not cross. She could pretend to be fine when her heart was broken, pretend to be happy when she was infuriated, though it never came off as quite believable. Most people either didn't notice, or didn't care enough to point it out to her. Shelley, of course, was the sole exception to that case.

"Jesus, Amber, I invited you to my party. The least you could do is stop acting like such a pathetic little bitch," Shelley's voice was low as she brushed past her and to the punch bowl on the table behind Amber that she had taken unconscious guard of. Their pale eyes met, and Amber caught Lou Ann studying them, smirking behind her glass of punch. Amber raised her eyes to Shelley's, mimicking the grimace on her face.

"That was awfully thoughtful of you, to invite me," she shot back, rolling her eyes mockingly, "And what an exciting party it is, Shelley. You really should turn seventeen more often," she smirked at her, shaking her head, "I think two people in the corner just fell asleep."

Shelley narrowed her eyes further at her, then held her head high, shaking her hair behind her shoulders. Despite the fact that this wasn't exactly the way she would have chosen to spend her birthday, and had been forced to allow her parents to throw her this pathetic excuse for a 'party', she was not about to let Amber know it.

"If you don't like it, you're more than welcome to leave. God, I was performing charity by even asking you to come." She took a small breath, then glanced toward her again, her voice loud, "No one even wanted me to invite you. I guess that was a huge mistake on my part."

Amber's mouth parted slightly, and she let out a disgusted groan before Shelley smirked, pushing away from her and back into the crowd of their friends. Amber watched as she made her way over to the couch in the den that was currently serving as a make-shift party room. The redhead moved gracefully, and she tucked her feet under her. Amber crossed her arms lightly over her chest, and their eyes connected for merely a second before the gaze was broken.

"Spin the Bottle," she heard a voice offer suddenly; it belonged to a male, of course, and cheers went up around the room. Amber's eyes narrowed almost unconsciously, and she looked to Shelley immediately. The redhead avoided meeting her gaze, a sultry grin spreading across her red lips.

"Yes," Shelley confirmed, her voice low and calm, as if she were a Greek goddess, bestowing power among the peasants of a small town, "Spin the Bottle sounds absolutely fabulous."

Everyone began to gather into a large circle on the floor, and Shelley moved easily from her place on the couch into a spot on the floor. Amber stood defiantly by the food table, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. In a moment, she was the only one not included in the circle on the floor, and kept her eyes narrowed. She swallowed hard, keeping her gaze focused on Shelley. Tammy looked over her shoulder suddenly at Amber, beckoning her closer with a waggle of her fingers.

"Amber, come on, we're going to play Spin the Bottle." She wiggled a little on the floor, then patted the carpet beside her, "There's a spot for you right here."

Amber shook her head, her face frozen into what she knew Shelley called _the pout_.

"No," she resisted, "I'm not playing."

Shelley allowed herself to look at Amber for the first time since the beginning of the game, then rolled her eyes.

"Never mind her, Tammy, she's a drag." Her eyes studied Amber's for a moment, and she smirked tightly at her. "I'm ready. Let me spin the bottle."

Amber watched, her eyes dark, her stomach suddenly twisted into jealousy, as Shelley's fingers worked over the glass Coca-Cola bottle, then set it into a spinning motion. It skid over the floor with a soft whirring sound, and a few of the girls giggled as it began to slow. Amber kept her eyes locked on the bottle now, as it slowed and finally stopped in front of one of the boys; a boy Amber remembered seeing in the cafeteria during lunch, but whose name she did not know. Amber's eyes moved to him quickly, and she narrowed her gaze at him, her fingers tightening into fists as he climbed to his feet to move towards Shelley. Shelley sat motionless in her space, and the girls in the circle began to squeal stupidly as he leaned in to kiss her. Shelley kept her eyes on his the entire time, and at the last moment, she wrapped her long, thin fingers around his tie, pulling him down to whisper something into his ear before pushing herself to her feet.

"New rule," she commanded suddenly, and all eyes were locked on their brave leader, "Everything takes place in the closet." She motioned towards a closed door a few feet away from the group, then led the boy towards it, "I'll be out when I'm out."

The crowd began to chatter excitedly, and Amber scoffed suddenly. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and kept her eyes locked on the door. She heard a soft click, and knew that it was the door lock. She clenched her teeth together suddenly, then shook her head.

"This is so stupid," she said, a little too loudly, and a few of the girls turned back to look at her from their position on the floor.

"Amber, you're not even playing," Lou Ann reminded her suddenly, "Anyway, It's just a game."

_Right. _

The moments ticked by; a few of the girls continued to whisper about Shelley and the nameless boy, but most of the crowd had gone on to talking about other topics of interest. Amber, however, kept her steely gaze on the door, and when it finally opened more than five minutes later, Shelley and the boy emerged. A silky grin occupied her lips, and he appeared somewhat sheepish. Oh, yes, his face was definitely a shade darker than it had been before he'd entered that closet. Amber's mouth dropped open a little, and she looked accusingly towards Shelley, who would no longer meet her gaze.

"How did it go?" One of the boys called out, and all eyes were on Shelley.

"Splendidly." Her word caused a sudden outburst among the crowd, and Shelley folded her hands in her lap quietly, her eyes dancing. The noise subsided a few seconds later, and Shelley picked the bottle up, holding it in her fingertips. "Who's next?"

"Me." Amber spit suddenly, her feet carrying her hurriedly to the group of girls. She plucked the bottle from Shelley's fingers, glaring at her the entire time. Shelley pursed her lips, one of her eyebrows arching slightly as Amber practically threw herself onto the floor next to Tammy. She glared at the group, and her fingers set the bottle in motion. Her demeanor had suddenly caused the group to go quiet, and unlike the soft giggles and chuckles that had filled the air during Shelley's turn, the room was deathly quiet as Amber took her own.

It finally slid to a stop, its neck pointing directly at Brad. Amber glanced up at him suddenly, resisting the urge to wrinkle her nose in disgust. Perhaps she had let her emotions get the better of her, because she certainly had no desire to go anywhere with him, much less a small, dark, confined space.

"Me," Brad offered suddenly, as if Amber couldn't see for herself. She watched him for a moment, then sighed loudly, rolling her eyes.

"Ugh, fine. Let's go." She pulled her lower lip into her mouth for a moment, letting herself glance at Shelley, who sat watching her silently. "I mean," she corrected herself suddenly, then threw a seductive glance towards the boy, letting her voice drop into a low, sultry tone, "Let's go, Brad."

She reached for his hand, and resisted the urge to shudder at the feeling of his sweaty palm in her fingers. She pulled him towards the closet, threw the door open, and pushed him inside. She took a moment to meet Shelley's eyes before stepping in after him, and closing the door.

It didn't feel good, and not just the idea of being in such a confined space with Brad. It didn't make her happy to further these riffs between Shelley and her. If anything, it pissed her off even more, and made her feel annoyed and unsettled. Still, this was the game they were involved in, and it was too late to change the rules now.

Amber crossed her arms once again, letting her back rest against the door. She heard (but could not see) Brad moving closer to her, and allowed her lip to curl up in disgust.

"So," he was using his charming voice, she assumed, "What should we do?"

She stood still and silent, hoping that he would realize she had _no_ intention to make out with him. After another moment, she felt his fingers tickling the skin on her arm, and realized that she had obviously overestimated his intelligence.

She slapped his fingers away quickly, moving out of his reach.

"I'll tell you what we're _not_ going to do. You're _not_ going to touch me, and I'm sure as hell _not_ going to kiss you." She heard him sigh in the darkness.

"Then why did you want to play, Amber? Are you trying to make some boy out there jealous?" His voice was hard and annoyed, and she felt her heart beginning to pound at his words. If only.

"Brad, I swear to God. You're not my therapist. Shut up."

He groaned again, and she heard him ruffling in the darkness.

"What are you doing?" She asked suddenly.

"Leaving," he said the word quickly, "I didn't realize you were such an ice princess. That's not the impression I got from everyone."

She bit on her lip, and decided to let that comment go, but grabbed his arm as he moved toward her.

"Don't you dare even _think_ about opening that door. Sit your ass down. We're not going anywhere."

"Why?" He shot back suddenly. Amber narrowed her eyes at him, even in the darkness. She crossed her arms, choosing to remain silent from that moment on. She didn't owe him any type of explanation, and sure as hell didn't need to break her feelings down in front of him. She moved to stand in front of the door, leaned her head back against it, and closed her eyes. She heard him sigh again, and clenched her teeth. It was really taking all of her self-control not to reach out and slap him.

She stood like that for a few minutes, her back slumped against the door, and suddenly felt hopeless. Maybe it would be best to kiss him; maybe, if she closed her eyes, let her imagination wander far enough, she could pretend. She could imagine it was Shelley's lips, her fingertips tracing lightly over her arms. She could pretend that Shelley was the one that was close enough to touch, close enough to slip her fingers through her hair. It was always amazing, and so intimate with Shelley. She'd never been able to find anyone else who made her feel the way she did; no one else could make her laugh, or cry, not like Shelley could. Suddenly, she couldn't stop thinking about the way her fingers curled against her skin, the way-

"Time's up," the door was pulled open so suddenly that Amber nearly stumbled backwards, and had to catch her balance before blinking to adjust to the light of the room, her eyes falling over Shelley's face. She stood gripping the door handle, glaring at both of them with furrowed brows.

Brad stood suddenly from the box he'd been sitting on, and groaned, glancing back and forth between them for a moment, seemingly waiting for something. Shelley moved, making a clear path to the door, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you waiting for? Get out." She glared at him, and when he hesitated for another moment, her fingers reached out, tangling in the collar of his shirt. She pulled him roughly to his feet, then pushed him out of the closet, sending him stumbling into the room.

"I said get out. I need to talk to Amber," Shelley explained suddenly, though her voice was dry and uninterested, "We'll be right out."

Shelley pulled the closet door shut behind them, leaving the two girls alone in the dark, quiet space for a moment before Amber crossed her arms and sat on the box Brad had recently abandoned, clearing her throat.

"Brad's a _great_ kisser," Amber lied suddenly, and was suddenly thankful there was no light on in the closet. If Shelley could see her face, and could see the blush creeping into her cheeks, she would surely know right away that her words were not the truth. "He did this thing with his hands where he-"

"Cut the shit, Amber," Shelley's voice cut through suddenly, "Don't expect me to believe for a _second_ that you so much as _looked_ at him." She scoffed as an afterthought, "God, you're such a bad liar. You always have been."

"I am not!" She retorted suddenly, though she knew that in itself was a lie, and instead of wasting breath to say anything more, she let the topic of conversation die. She shifted on the box, twisting her hands in her lap. "Who was that boy?"

By Shelley's sudden hesitance, she knew she had thrown her off with the question. She sighed heavily, shifting against the door.

"What boy, Amber?"

Amber scoffed, shaking her head.

"What boy? The boy you just made out with in here, who the hell is he?" She felt her voice getting shrill, and took a moment to let herself calm down before looking towards Shelley in the darkness.

Shelley laughed suddenly then, her voice deep and sultry.

"Oh, him. That's Ben."

"Ben." Amber said the word, her voice dripping with disgust, "Well, I hope _Ben_ enjoyed having your tongue in his mouth."

Shelley made a small, self-satisfied noise in the darkness, then remained silent.

"Right." Shelley shifted suddenly, and Amber felt the skirt of Shelley's dress brush against her leg. Amber sucked her breath in suddenly, but made no effort or attempt to move. "God, you're so childish, do you know that?" Shelley was chastising her suddenly, and Amber looked towards her, furrowing her eyebrows, her lips parting in protest.

"_I'm_ childish?" She spat back, "You're the one that started this stupid game to make me jealous. If you wouldn't have thought of it, I wouldn't be in here right now."

"Yes, well." Shelley's voice came after a long moment of silence, dripping with the seductive tone that Amber had come to know so well. Suddenly, Shelley had pulled her into a standing position, walking until Amber's back had been pushed against the wall. Shelley stood so close to her now, her fingernails digging lightly into the skin on Amber's biceps. "It's a good thing I started this little game then, isn't it?"

Amber suddenly felt Shelley's breath on the base of her neck, and sighed softly, almost involuntarily. She felt her lips pressing into a soft smile before forcing herself to frown again.

"You kissed that boy," she reminded her stupidly, "_Ben_. You kissed _Ben_." The thought of the other girl's lips on anyone but hers formed a tight knot in her stomach, and made her mouth dry. The very thought that it had been in this very closet only furthered her nausea, and though she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to push Shelley away.

"No," Shelley answered her suddenly, not missing a beat, not taking a step away from the blonde girl, "I didn't kiss that idiot." She grunted softly, then paused, "Hold on." She moved away from Amber for only a moment, her fingers wrapping around the chain connected to the light bulb that hung from the ceiling. With a swift pull, the closet was covered in a dim glow, and Shelley allowed herself to look at Amber now, one eyebrow arched perfectly, almost as if it had been molded into place by the gods. "There. That's better."

Amber squinted for a moment, to adjust to the sudden light, but watched the redhead in confusion.

"Wait- you didn't kiss him?"

Shelley laughed suddenly again.

"No. Jesus, Amber, how desperate would I have to be? He's an absolute pig." Amber stood watching her silently, and Shelley rolled her eyes, taking a step back from the other girl and sighing heavily. "What? You want proof? Go out there and look at that moron's face. Not a trace of lipstick anywhere on him." She smirked a little then, "You of all people should know this color gets _everywhere_."

"Then why did you bring him into the closet?" She wondered further, and Shelley gaped at her for a moment.

"Are you shitting me? Christ, you're clueless. Obviously I wasn't going to deny him in front of everyone." She crossed her arms over her chest easily, "I have a reputation to keep."

"So you're not-"

Shelley leaned in suddenly, her lips covering Amber's in a soft kiss, lingering there for a moment before pulling away.

"That's one of your _biggest_ problems, Von Tussle. You never know when to shut the hell up."

She curled her fingers gently against Amber's arm, scratching her lightly with her nails. Amber was quiet for a moment, pursing her lips, wetting them with her tongue, studying Shelley's face.

"We're like a city on the hill, you know?" Amber's words were soft and sudden, barely audible, and she allowed her fingers to brush gently at a few red strands of the other girl's hair.

Shelley looked towards her questioningly, her eyes dark and narrowed.

"What the hell does that mean?"

Amber studied her face for a long, silent moment, and frowned a little.

"It means everyone is watching us, all the time. No matter what we're doing, people are watching us."

Shelley's eyes remained on the blonde's face, and she narrowed her pale gaze at her.

"No one is watching us right now." She rubbed Amber's arm softly now, still watching her face. "So you see? This closet worked to our advantage."

Amber felt the blush rising in her cheeks, her lips curving into a flirtatious smile.

"You have a valid point, Shelley."

Shelley smirked, pushing Amber hard against the wall and placing another kiss on her lips, this one firmer and deeper than the last.

"I always do, baby."

They both knew that the closet door would have to open soon; both knew they'd have to go on playing this tireless game of hating, then loving each other. They knew that it wouldn't be easy, and that moments like this, where they could be completely together without fear or frustration, would be few and far between.

And yet, neither of them were ready to quit playing.

Neither of them ever would be.


End file.
